2000–01 New York Rangers season

The 2000–01 New York Rangers season was the franchise's 75th season. The Rangers compiled a 33–43–5–1 record in the regular season, finishing in fourth place in the Atlantic Division.^[1] New York's 10th-place finish in the Eastern Conference left it out of the 2001 Stanley Cup playoffs; it was the fourth consecutive season the team missed the postseason.^[2][3]

2000–01 New York Rangers
Division	4th Atlantic
Conference	10th Eastern
2000–01 record	33–43–5–1
Home record	17–20–3–1
Road record	16–23–2–0
Goals for	250
Goals against	290
Team information
General manager	Glen Sather
Coach	Ron Low
Captain	Mark Messier
Arena	Madison Square Garden
Average attendance	18,200 (100%)
Minor league affiliate(s)	Hartford Wolf Pack Charlotte Checkers
Team leaders
Goals	Petr Nedved (32)
Assists	Brian Leetch (58)
Points	Brian Leetch (79)
Penalty minutes	Dale Purinton (180)
Plus/minus	Petr Nedved (+10)
Wins	Mike Richter (20)
Goals against average	Mike Richter (3.28)
← 1999–2000 2001–02 →

The season saw several new faces join the team. Glen Sather, the longtime Edmonton Oilers executive, was brought in to be team president and general manager.^[4] Ron Low was hired as the team's head coach.^[5] Former team captain Mark Messier returned to the Rangers after spending the previous three seasons with the Vancouver Canucks and resumed his place as team captain.^[6]

Regular season

The Rangers allowed the most goals during the regular season, with 290. They also scored the most short-handed goals, with 16.^[3]

Final standings

Atlantic Division^[7]

No.	CR		GP	W	L	T	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
1	1	New Jersey Devils	82	48	19	12	3	295	195	111
2	4	Philadelphia Flyers	82	43	25	11	3	240	207	100
3	6	Pittsburgh Penguins	82	42	28	9	3	281	256	96
4	10	New York Rangers	82	33	43	5	1	250	290	72
5	15	New York Islanders	82	21	51	7	3	185	268	52

Note: CR = Conference rank; GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; OTL = Overtime loss; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = Points
         Bolded teams qualified for the playoffs.

Eastern Conference^[8]

R		Div	GP	W	L	T	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
1	Z- New Jersey Devils	AT	82	48	19	12	3	295	195	111
2	Y- Ottawa Senators	NE	82	48	21	9	4	274	205	109
3	Y- Washington Capitals	SE	82	41	27	10	4	233	211	96
4	X- Philadelphia Flyers	AT	82	43	25	11	3	240	207	100
5	X- Buffalo Sabres	NE	82	46	30	5	1	218	184	98
6	X- Pittsburgh Penguins	AT	82	42	28	9	3	281	256	96
7	X- Toronto Maple Leafs	NE	82	37	29	11	5	232	207	90
8	X- Carolina Hurricanes	SE	82	38	32	9	3	212	225	88
8.5
9	Boston Bruins	NE	82	36	30	8	8	227	249	88
10	New York Rangers	AT	82	33	43	5	1	250	290	72
11	Montreal Canadiens	NE	82	28	40	8	6	206	232	70
12	Florida Panthers	SE	82	22	38	13	9	200	246	66
13	Atlanta Thrashers	SE	82	23	45	12	2	211	289	60
14	Tampa Bay Lightning	SE	82	24	47	6	5	201	280	59
15	New York Islanders	AT	82	21	51	7	3	185	268	52

Divisions: AT – Atlantic, NE – Northeast, SE – Southeast

Z – Clinched conference; Y – Clinched division; X – Clinched playoff spot

Schedule and results

2000–01 regular season[9]
October: 4–6–0–0 (home: 2–4–0–0; road: 2–2–0–0) Game Date Opponent Score Record Recap 1 October 7, 2000 @ Atlanta Thrashers 2–1 1–0–0–0 W 2 October 11, 2000 Montreal Canadiens 3–1 2–0–0–0 W 3 October 14, 2000 @ Pittsburgh Penguins 8–6 2–1–0–0 L 4 October 16, 2000 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim 4–3 2–2–0–0 L 5 October 18, 2000 @ Chicago Blackhawks 4–2 3–2–0–0 W 6 October 22, 2000 Tampa Bay Lightning 4–2 3–3–0–0 L 7 October 24, 2000 Philadelphia Flyers 5–4 3–4–0–0 L 8 October 26, 2000 @ Philadelphia Flyers 3–0 3–5–0–0 L 9 October 27, 2000 Pittsburgh Penguins 4–1 3–6–0–0 L 10 October 29, 2000 Boston Bruins 5–1 4–6–0–0 W
November: 9–6–0–0 (home: 4–2–0–0; road: 5–4–0–0) Game Date Opponent Score Record Recap 11 November 1, 2000 Tampa Bay Lightning 6–1 5–6–0–0 W 12 November 2, 2000 @ Ottawa Senators 6–5 5–7–0–0 L 13 November 4, 2000 @ Montreal Canadiens 5–2 6–7–0–0 W 14 November 7, 2000 Edmonton Oilers 4–3 7–7–0–0 W 15 November 9, 2000 @ Washington Capitals 5–3 8–7–0–0 W 16 November 12, 2000 Phoenix Coyotes 2–0 8–8–0–0 L 17 November 15, 2000 @ Minnesota Wild 3–2 9–8–0–0 W 18 November 17, 2000 @ Vancouver Canucks 4–3 9–9–0–0 L 19 November 18, 2000 @ Calgary Flames 5–4 OT 10–9–0–0 W 20 November 21, 2000 Toronto Maple Leafs 3–1 10–10–0–0 L 21 November 22, 2000 @ New York Islanders 4–3 OT 11–10–0–0 W 22 November 24, 2000 @ Buffalo Sabres 3–2 11–11–0–0 L 23 November 26, 2000 Ottawa Senators 3–2 12–11–0–0 W 24 November 28, 2000 Los Angeles Kings 7–6 13–11–0–0 W 25 November 29, 2000 @ New Jersey Devils 5–2 13–12–0–0 L
December: 3–9–1–1 (home: 3–3–0–1; road: 0–6–1–0) Game Date Opponent Score Record Recap 26 December 2, 2000 @ Toronto Maple Leafs 8–2 13–13–0–0 L 27 December 3, 2000 Colorado Avalanche 6–3 13–14–0–0 L 28 December 6, 2000 Washington Capitals 3–2 14–14–0–0 W 29 December 8, 2000 Buffalo Sabres 5–2 15–14–0–0 W 30 December 9, 2000 @ Boston Bruins 6–4 15–15–0–0 L 31 December 12, 2000 @ San Jose Sharks 3–2 15–16–0–0 L 32 December 14, 2000 @ Los Angeles Kings 5–5 OT 15–16–1–0 T 33 December 15, 2000 @ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim 6–4 15–17–1–0 L 34 December 18, 2000 Florida Panthers 6–3 16–17–1–0 W 35 December 20, 2000 St. Louis Blues 6–3 16–18–1–0 L 36 December 23, 2000 Nashville Predators 3–2 OT 16–18–1–1 OTL 37 December 27, 2000 @ Carolina Hurricanes 4–3 16–19–1–1 L 38 December 28, 2000 Atlanta Thrashers 4–1 16–20–1–1 L 39 December 31, 2000 @ Dallas Stars 6–1 16–21–1–1 L
January: 5–7–2–0 (home: 4–4–1–0; road: 1–3–1–0) Game Date Opponent Score Record Recap 40 January 4, 2001 @ Phoenix Coyotes 3–1 16–22–1–1 L 41 January 6, 2001 New Jersey Devils 5–5 OT 16–22–2–1 T 42 January 8, 2001 Dallas Stars 2–1 16–23–2–1 L 43 January 13, 2001 @ Boston Bruins 4–1 16–24–2–1 L 44 January 14, 2001 Minnesota Wild 4–2 17–24–2–1 W 45 January 16, 2001 Philadelphia Flyers 4–3 OT 18–24–2–1 W 46 January 18, 2001 Toronto Maple Leafs 2–1 OT 19–24–2–1 W 47 January 20, 2001 @ Montreal Canadiens 2–2 OT 19–24–3–1 T 48 January 22, 2001 @ Carolina Hurricanes 5–2 20–24–3–1 W 49 January 24, 2001 Carolina Hurricanes 3–2 20–25–3–1 L 50 January 26, 2001 New York Islanders 3–2 20–26–3–1 L 51 January 27, 2001 @ Toronto Maple Leafs 3–1 20–27–3–1 L 52 January 29, 2001 Atlanta Thrashers 7–2 20–28–3–1 L 53 January 31, 2001 Montreal Canadiens 4–2 21–28–3–1 W
February: 5–4–1–0 (home: 2–2–1–0; road: 3–2–0–0) Game Date Opponent Score Record Recap 54 February 6, 2001 Buffalo Sabres 6–3 21–29–3–1 L 55 February 9, 2001 @ Florida Panthers 4–2 22–29–3–1 W 56 February 11, 2001 New Jersey Devils 1–1 OT 22–29–4–1 T 57 February 12, 2001 @ Columbus Blue Jackets 4–3 23–29–4–1 W 58 February 17, 2001 @ Tampa Bay Lightning 5–4 24–29–4–1 W 59 February 19, 2001 Chicago Blackhawks 4–2 25–29–4–1 W 60 February 23, 2001 @ Pittsburgh Penguins 6–4 25–30–4–1 L 61 February 25, 2001 @ Philadelphia Flyers 2–1 25–31–4–1 L 62 February 26, 2001 Ottawa Senators 3–2 25–32–4–1 L 63 February 28, 2001 Florida Panthers 4–2 26–32–4–1 W
March: 5–9–1–0 (home: 2–4–1–0; road: 3–5–0–0) Game Date Opponent Score Record Recap 64 March 2, 2001 Pittsburgh Penguins 7–5 26–33–4–1 L 65 March 4, 2001 @ Nashville Predators 5–2 26–34–4–1 L 66 March 5, 2001 New York Islanders 5–2 26–35–4–1 L 67 March 9, 2001 @ Washington Capitals 5–3 26–36–4–1 L 68 March 10, 2001 @ Ottawa Senators 3–2 27–36–4–1 W 69 March 12, 2001 Pittsburgh Penguins 3–3 OT 27–36–5–1 T 70 March 14, 2001 @ Buffalo Sabres 6–3 27–37–5–1 L 71 March 17, 2001 @ Philadelphia Flyers 2–1 27–38–5–1 L 72 March 19, 2001 Washington Capitals 6–3 28–38–5–1 W 73 March 21, 2001 @ New Jersey Devils 4–0 28–39–5–1 L 74 March 24, 2001 Detroit Red Wings 6–0 28–40–5–1 L 75 March 25, 2001 Boston Bruins 3–2 28–41–5–1 L 76 March 28, 2001 New York Islanders 4–2 29–41–5–1 W 77 March 29, 2001 @ New York Islanders 6–4 30–41–5–1 W 78 March 31, 2001 @ New Jersey Devils 4–3 31–41–5–1 W
April: 2–2–0–0 (home: 0–1–0–0; road: 2–1–0–0) Game Date Opponent Score Record Recap 79 April 1, 2001 @ Atlanta Thrashers 4–2 32–41–5–1 W 80 April 4, 2001 Carolina Hurricanes 3–1 32–42–5–1 L 81 April 5, 2001 @ Tampa Bay Lightning 4–3 OT 33–42–5–1 W 82 April 7, 2001 @ Florida Panthers 3–0 33–43–5–1 L
Legend: W Win (2 points) L Loss (0 points) T Tie (1 point) OTL Overtime loss (1 point)

Player statistics

Scoring

• Position abbreviations: C = Center; D = Defense; G = Goaltender; LW = Left wing; RW = Right wing
• † = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Rangers only.
• ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Rangers only.

No.	Player	Pos	Regular season
			GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM
2	Brian Leetch	D	82	21	58	79	−18	34
93	Petr Nedved	C	79	32	46	78	10	54
14	Theoren Fleury	RW	62	30	44	74	0	122
20	Radek Dvorak	RW	82	31	36	67	9	20
11	Mark Messier	C	82	24	43	67	−25	89
27	Jan Hlavac	LW	79	28	36	64	3	20
13	Valeri Kamensky	LW	65	14	20	34	−18	36
18	Mike York	C	79	14	17	31	1	20
9	Adam Graves	LW	82	10	16	26	−16	77
3	Kim Johnsson	D	75	5	21	26	−3	40
10	Sandy McCarthy	RW	81	11	10	21	3	171
8[a]	Michal Grosek	RW	65	9	11	20	−10	61
24	Sylvain Lefebvre	D	71	2	13	15	3	55
6	Manny Malhotra	C	50	4	8	12	−10	31
47	Rich Pilon	D	69	2	9	11	−2	175
26	Tim Taylor	C	38	2	5	7	−6	16
28	Eric Lacroix‡	LW	46	2	3	5	−6	39
17	Colin Forbes†	LW	19	1	4	5	−3	15
22	Tomas Kloucek	D	43	1	4	5	−3	74
4	Brad Brown	D	48	1	3	4	0	107
25	Alexei Gusarov†‡	D	26	1	3	4	−2	6
38	Jeff Ulmer	RW	21	3	0	3	−6	8
33	Mike Mottau	D	18	0	3	3	−6	13
25	Peter Smrek†	D	14	0	3	3	1	12
29	Johan Witehall‡	LW	15	0	3	3	−5	8
29	Jeff Toms†	LW	15	1	1	2	−3	0
23	Vladimir Malakhov	D	3	0	2	2	0	4
5	Dale Purinton	D	42	0	2	2	5	180
39	Brad Smyth	RW	4	1	0	1	0	4
21[b]	Derek Armstrong	C	3	0	0	0	0	0
39	Drew Bannister	D	3	0	0	0	−1	0
21[c]	Jason Doig	D	3	0	0	0	0	0
31	Guy Hebert†	G	13	0	0	0		0
32	Johan Holmqvist	G	2	0	0	0		2
34	Jason LaBarbera	G	1	0	0	0		0
15	John MacLean‡	RW	2	0	0	0	−2	0
30	Kirk McLean	G	23	0	0	0		0
35	Mike Richter	G	45	0	0	0		0
21	Bert Robertsson†‡	D	2	0	0	0	−1	4
37	Tony Tuzzolino	RW	6	0	0	0	−1	5
36	David Wilkie	D	1	0	0	0	−2	2
31	Vitali Yeremeyev	G	4	0	0	0		0

Goaltending

• † = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Rangers only.

No.	Player	Regular season
		GP	W	L	T	SA	GA	GAA	SV%	SO	TOI
35	Mike Richter	45	20	21	3	1487	144	3.28	.893	0	2635
30	Kirk McLean	23	8	10	1	710	71	3.49	.889	0	1220
31	Guy Hebert†	13	5	7	1	409	42	3.43	.897	0	735
31	Vitali Yeremeyev	4	0	4	0	120	16	4.52	.846	0	212
32	Johan Holmqvist	2	0	2	0	81	10	5.05	.859	0	119
34	Jason LaBarbera	1	0	0	0	2	0	0.00	1.000	0	10

Sources:^[1][10]

Awards and records

Awards

Type	Award/honor	Recipient	Ref
League (annual)	Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy	Adam Graves	[11]
League (in-season)	NHL All-Star Game selection	Theoren Fleury[d]	[13]
		Brian Leetch
	NHL Player of the Week	Theoren Fleury (November 6)	[14]
Team	Ceil Saidel Memorial Award	Adam Graves	[15]
	Frank Boucher Trophy	Brian Leetch	[15]
	Good Guy Award	Petr Nedved	[15]
	Lars-Erik Sjoberg Award	Filip Novak	[15]
	Players' Player Award	Brian Leetch	[15]
	Rangers MVP	Brian Leetch	[15]
	Rookie of the Year	Tomas Kloucek	[15]
	Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award	Sandy McCarthy	[15]

Milestones

Milestone	Player	Date	Ref
First game	Jason LaBarbera	October 14, 2000	[16]
	Mike Mottau	October 26, 2000
	Johan Holmqvist	October 27, 2000
	Tomas Kloucek	November 12, 2000
	Vitali Yeremeyev	December 27, 2000
	Jeff Ulmer	January 31, 2001
600th assist	Brian Leetch	October 14, 2000	[17]
400th goal scored	Theoren Fleury	November 4, 2000	[18]

Transactions

The Rangers were involved in the following transactions from June 11, 2000, the day after the deciding game of the 2000 Stanley Cup Finals, through June 9, 2001, the day of the deciding game of the 2001 Stanley Cup Finals.^[19]

Trades

Date	Details		Ref
June 24, 2000 (2000-06-24)	To New York Rangers 2nd-round pick in 2000 3rd-round pick in 2000	To Detroit Red Wings 2nd-round pick in 2000	[20]
June 25, 2000 (2000-06-25)	To New York Rangers 4th-round pick in 2000 5th-round pick in 2000	To San Jose Sharks 4th-round pick in 2000	[19]
August 4, 2000 (2000-08-04)	To New York Rangers Sandy McCarthy Conditional draft pick[e]	To Carolina Hurricanes Rob DiMaio Darren Langdon	[21]
September 25, 2000 (2000-09-25)	To New York Rangers Conditional draft pick in 2001	To Nashville Predators Alexei Vasiliev	[22]
October 5, 2000 (2000-10-05)	To New York Rangers Brad Brown Michal Grosek	To Chicago Blackhawks Future considerations[f]	[24]
November 9, 2000 (2000-11-09)	To New York Rangers Bert Robertsson	To Columbus Blue Jackets Jean-Francois Labbe	[25]
December 28, 2000 (2000-12-28)	To New York Rangers Alexei Gusarov	To Colorado Avalanche 5th-round pick in 2001	[26]
February 5, 2001 (2001-02-05)	To New York Rangers Future considerations	To Dallas Stars John MacLean	[27]
March 1, 2001 (2001-03-01)	To New York Rangers Colin Forbes	To Ottawa Senators Eric Lacroix	[28]
March 5, 2001 (2001-03-05)	To New York Rangers Peter Smrek	To St. Louis Blues Alexei Gusarov	[29]
March 7, 2001 (2001-03-07)	To New York Rangers Ryan Tobler	To Nashville Predators Bert Robertsson	[30]

Players acquired

Date	Player	Former team	Term	Via	Ref
June 29, 2000 (2000-06-29)	Brandon Dietrich	St. Lawrence University (ECAC)		Free agency	[31]
July 10, 2000 (2000-07-10)	Vladimir Malakhov	New Jersey Devils		Free agency	[32]
July 13, 2000 (2000-07-13)	Mark Messier	Vancouver Canucks	2-year	Free agency	[33]
July 27, 2000 (2000-07-27)	Jeff Ulmer	Houston Aeros (IHL)		Free agency	[34]
September 29, 2000 (2000-09-29)	Andreas Johansson	Calgary Flames		Waiver draft	[35]
January 13, 2001 (2001-01-13)	Jeff Toms	New York Islanders		Waivers	[36]
February 9, 2001 (2001-02-09)	Tony Tuzzolino	Hartford Wolf Pack (AHL)		Free agency	[37]
March 7, 2001 (2001-03-07)	Guy Hebert	Anaheim Mighty Ducks		Waivers	[38]
May 8, 2001 (2001-05-08)	Richard Scott	Hartford Wolf Pack (AHL)		Free agency	[39]

Players lost

Date	Player	New team	Via[g]	Ref
June 23, 2000 (2000-06-23)	Mathieu Schneider	Columbus Blue Jackets	Expansion draft	[41]
	Dmitri Subbotin	Minnesota Wild	Expansion draft	[41]
July 1, 2000 (2000-07-01)	Alexandre Daigle[h]		Contract expiration (UFA)	[40]
July 7, 2000 (2000-07-07)	Kevin Stevens	Philadelphia Flyers	Free agency (III)	[43]
	P. J. Stock	Montreal Canadiens	Free agency (VI)	[44]
July 28, 2000 (2000-07-28)	Milan Hnilicka	Atlanta Thrashers	Free agency (VI)	[45]
	Chris Wells	Dallas Stars	Free agency (UFA)	[46]
July 31, 2000 (2000-07-31)	Kevin Hatcher	Carolina Hurricanes	Free agency (III)	[47]
October 5, 2000 (2000-10-05)	Stephane Quintal	Chicago Blackhawks	Waivers	[23]
October 15, 2000 (2000-10-15)	Daniel Goneau	Manitoba Moose (IHL)	Free agency (II)	[48]
October 27, 2000 (2000-10-27)	Chris Kenady	Louisville Panthers (AHL)	Free agency (VI)	[49]
January 2, 2001 (2001-01-02)	Stefan Cherneski		Retirement	[50]
January 12, 2001 (2001-01-12)	Johan Witehall	Montreal Canadiens	Waivers	[51]

Signings

Date	Player	Term	Contract type	Ref
July 24, 2000 (2000-07-24)	Johan Holmqvist		Entry-level	[52]
	Vitali Yeremeyev		Entry-level	[52]
July 25, 2000 (2000-07-25)	Martin Richter		Entry-level	[53]
July 31, 2000 (2000-07-31)	Eric Lacroix		Re-signing	[54]
August 10, 2000 (2000-08-10)	David Wilkie		Re-signing	[54]
August 30, 2000 (2000-08-30)	Derek Armstrong		Re-signing	[55]
September 1, 2000 (2000-09-01)	Jason Dawe		Re-signing	[56]
September 7, 2000 (2000-09-07)	Johan Witehall		Re-signing	[57]
September 8, 2000 (2000-09-08)	Drew Bannister		Re-signing	[58]
	Dale Purinton		Re-signing	[58]
October 4, 2000 (2000-10-04)	Mike Mottau		Entry-level	[59]

Draft picks

New York's picks at the 2000 NHL entry draft in Calgary, Alberta, Canada at the Pengrowth Saddledome.^[60][61]

Round	#	Player	Position	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
2	64	Filip Novak	D	Czech Republic	Regina Pats (WHL)
3	95	Dominic Moore	C	Canada	Harvard University (NCAA)
4	112	Premysl Duben	D	Czech Republic	HC Dukla Jihlava (Czechoslovak Extraliga)
5	140	Nathan Martz	C	Canada	Chilliwack Chiefs (BCHL)
5	143	Brandon Snee	G	United States	Union College (NCAA)
6	175	Sven Helfenstein	C/RW	Switzerland	Kloten Flyers (NLA)
7	205	Henrik Lundqvist	G	Sweden	Frölunda HC (SEL)
8	238	Dan Eberly	D	United States	R.P.I. (NCAA)
9	269	Martin Richter	D	Czech Republic	SaiPa (FNL)

Notes

1. Grosek wore number 22 in the season opener.
2. Armstrong wore number 17 in his first game.
3. Doig wore number 25 in his first two games.
4. Fleury was voted to the starting lineup.^[12]
5. 4th-round pick in 2001.
6. The Rangers agreed to place Stephane Quintal on waivers.^[23]
7. In parentheses is the player's free agency group on July 1 if applicable.^[40]
8. Daigle retired.^[42]